News

Maj. Harry Schmidt, who mistakenly dropped a 500-pound bomb on Canadian troops, killing four Canadian soldiers in 2002, lost a suit against the U.S. Air Force on Thursday. Schmidt claimed the Air Force damaged his reputation by releasing the contents of a letter of reprimand. In a military-style plea arrangement, Schmidt avoided court martial for […]

Hardly a day goes by that we dont hear about some kind of off-airport landing, but the images accompanying one pilots bad day in Florida have captured the imagination of even non-pilots. Pilot Robert W. Robertson, 34, was just about the only thing left intact after the Beech Super 18 he was flying lost power […]

The Department of Defense says its next generation of GPS satellites wont come with an on/off switch for civilian users. Because the system was originally deployed as a military system, the military wanted the ability to degrade the accuracy of the signal or eliminate it entirely to prevent it from being used against them. But […]

Oregon definitely isn’t Kansas but a key component of one Oregon town’s economy could be headed there. According to the Wichita Eagle, Cessna is one of as many as three suitors for Columbia Aircraft, which has been shopped around by the Malaysian government, its principal investors, for about a year. Analysts say acquiring Columbia would […]

The Senate Finance Committee has approved the “American Infrastructure and Investment Act” as part of Congress’s FAA reauthorization process. The Act in part uses an increase in fuel taxes as a source of additional funding for the FAA and its infrastructure modernization efforts. The move was lauded by NBAA, because it does not include the […]

DayJet, the largest customer for Eclipse 500 very light jets, has been quietly conducting revenue flights for more than a week as it shakes down the operation. Although there have been no official announcements about the commencement of air taxi operations, a column by James Fallows in The Atlantic.com spilled the beans and DayJet spokesman […]

There have been backslaps all around about the Houses convincing 267-151 vote to essentially maintain the status quo on the way the FAA is funded. In rapid succession, the Ways and Means Committee, the Rules Committee and the full House rejected user fees as a method of funding the Next Generation Airspace System (NextGen) and […]

Think you have the right stuff? Here’s your chance to give it a try. NASA is recruiting its next class of astronauts, for 2009. The agency says it is looking for “a few men and women who want to fulfill their dreams and be a part of the next generation of explorers.” Candidates must be […]

After two weeks of searching and no sign of Steve Fossett or his airplane, the rescue effort will be scaled back, officials said on Monday. Fossett took off on Sept. 3 from a private airfield in Nevada for what was supposed to be a three-hour flight, but he never returned. The Civil Air Patrol has […]

The House Ways and Means Committee passed an FAA reauthorization bill on Tuesday that has no user fees for general aviation. The legislation still must pass through the Rules Committee before heading to the House floor, but that could happen within a week. If the bill passes as is, fuel taxes would increase — from […]